Increased risk of severe fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity in patients carrying a G to C substitution in the first 28-bp tandem repeat of the thymidylate synthase 2R allele

The fluoropyrimidines act by inhibiting thymidylate synthase (TS). Recent studies have shown that patients' risk of severe fluoropyrimidine-associated toxicity is affected by polymorphisms in the 5′-untranslated region of TYMS, the gene encoding TS. A G>C substitution in the promoter enhancer region of TYMS, rs183205964 (known as the 2RC allele), markedly reduces TS activity in vitro, but its clinical relevance is unknown. We determined rs183205964 in 1605 patients previously enrolled in a prospective multicenter study. Associations between putative low TS expression genotypes (3RC/2RC, 2RG/2RC, and 2RC/2RC) and severe toxicity were investigated using univariable and multivariable logistic regression. Activity of TS and TYMS gene expression were determined in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of a patient carrying genotype 2RC/2RC and of a control group of healthy individuals. Among 1,605 patients, 28 patients (1.7%) carried the 2RC allele. Twenty patients (1.2%) carried a risk-associated genotype (2RG/2RC, n=13; 3RC/2RC, n=6; and 2RC/2RC, n=1), the eight remaining patients had genotype 3RG/2RC. Early severe toxicity and toxicity-related hospitalization were significantly more frequent in risk-associated genotype carriers (OR 3.0, 95%CI 1.04-8.93, p=0.043 and OR 3.8, 95%CI 1.19-11.9, p=0.024, respectively, in multivariable analysis). The patient with genotype 2RC/2RC was hospitalized twice and had severe febrile neutropenia, diarrhea, and hand-foot syndrome. Baseline TS activity and gene expression in PBMCs of this patient, and a healthy individual with the 2RC allele, were found to be within the normal range. Our study suggests that patients carrying rs183205964 are at strongly increased risk of severe, potentially life-threatening, toxicity when treated with fluoropyrimidines. What's new? Fluoropyrimidines are among the most commonly used anticancer drugs. Fluoropyrimidines act by inhibiting thymidylate synthase, encoded by the gene TYMS. A G>C substitution in the promoter enhancer region of TYMS, rs183205964, has been shown to reduce TS activity in vitro, but its effect in patients is unknown. We determined the clinical relevance of this variant as a predictor of severe fluoropyrimidine-induced toxicity in a cohort of 1605 patients treated with fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy, and demonstrate for the first time that rs183205964 is associated with risk of early severe toxicity.